Airbnb, a six-figure business?
Firing your boss, slowly but surely becomes the silent dream for many hardworking individuals who find themselves sacrificing their time to make a dollar. Selling large parts of your day and yourself becomes tiresome with time, more so if you find yourself in the unfortunate circumstance of hating what you do daily. Firing your boss, is simply the prelude to the truly coveted part of the fantasy however, the real goal is developing a system where minimal daily work is rewarded with large sums of money; and what a dream it is. We praise and envy those who’ve appeared to crack the code, constantly looking to do so ourselves. It is of no surprise then, that many have flocked to the home-sharing platform Airbnb in an attempt to fulfil this fantasy.
What is it?
Airbnb is a hospitality service that facilitates the listing and booking of living spaces – single rooms to entire island villas – for anyone worldwide. Airbnb’s appeal comes from its ease of access to ordinary people who’d like to make some extra cash each year. Setting one up is easy and in most cases, you don’t even need to own a property to do it. The platform has made the act of “home-sharing” safe, popular and widely accepted, as it offers a cheap yet comfortable alternative to traditional hotel lodging. To say that Airbnb is a gold mine waiting to be explored would be false however; as many have already dropped into its depths and escaped with buckets of precious metal. So, the question becomes then, how can you get a piece of the action in this ever-expanding market?
How can Airbnb be used?
Now the original and more well know utilization of Airbnb’s platform is renting out a spare room or apartment space that you own. This is a great place to start as it allows you to assess if being an Airbnb host is your cup of tea through interacting with guests. It also gives you the opportunity to become familiar with the platform and all it offers. Property management, of various properties is where the real money lies however.
With Airbnb, you aren’t required to own the property or room that you are listing, and so you’re able to control and list multiple properties quite easily. For instance, apartment buildings in crowded cities tend to have vacancies that they are quite eager to fill; approaching the apartment owners and offering to fill their rooms utilizing this Airbnb model can yield positive results. You can also speak with property owners who’d like to make the extra income but simply do not have the time needed to effectively handle everything required. Approach them with the proposition of becoming their property manager allowing the owners to have their empty spaces filled, giving them a profit; whilst also bagging you a percent for securing the booking, and managing everything that lodging process entails
Being upfront about how the process works and what is to be expected is essential however, as you want to avoid a situation where your agreement goes up in smoke due to a lack of understanding brought on through poor explanation and communication.
Be prepared
Now obviously the time and money commitments that are needed to manage and maintain multiple properties is vastly different from taking care of a spare room, so being prepared for the initial work that would be needed is important. Upfront, paying for apartment leases, and all the necessary furniture can put a dent in your pocket so take care not to take on too many properties too quickly.
Operating an Airbnb business isn’t easy though, at least not at first. Chances are that there are several other Airbnb hosts in your area trying to attract guests just like you. Because there are several options available, the tiniest thing may sway a potential guest. A price that is $5 higher, a late reply to an inquiry or not having enough pictures of the property can all cause the fickle, economical users of Airbnb to look elsewhere for their lodging. Research your area, what you have to offer (attractions, festivals, conferences) and also take stock of local competition: big hotels, fellow Airbnb hosts.
Finally, once properties are attained, start outsourcing necessary functions such as cleaning, concierge services and booking. Relinquishing yourself from these tasks gives you the time to do whatever it is you please with most of your day.
The last thing you should know is that this business model can thrive worldwide, a booking is merely a mouse click away so the opportunity literally exists everywhere. This business model can be extremely profitable as many hosts can tell you, the gold is there for the taking.